Hailing from York, Pennsylvania, the group is comprised of Ed Kowalczyk (lead vocals & guitar), Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums). Since approximately 1999, Live has toured with Ed’s younger brother, Adam Kowalczyk as a rhythm guitarist, and, previously, British keyboardist Michael “Railo” Railton.
Kowalczyk, Taylor, Dahlheimer, and Gracey first came together for a middle-school talent show in the Pennsylvania blue-collar town of York. The group remained together throughout high school, going through a handful of band names and new-wave covers before settling on the moniker Public Affection and recording a self-released cassette of originals, The Death of a Dictionary, in 1989. Frequent trips into New York to play at CBGB helped net the band a deal with Radioactive Records in 1991. With the new name Live, the band entered the studio with former Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison that year and began recording the EP Four Songs. The single “Operation spirit (the tyranny of tradition)” went to #9 on the Modern Rock chart, and paved the way for the band’s Harrison-produced, full-length debut, 1991’s Mental Jewelry (#73). The album lyrics, penned by Kowalczyk, were heavily inspired by Indian guru Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Fueled by heavy touring (including billing at Woodstock ‘94 and Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD tour) and a string of hit singles (“I Alone”, “All Over You” and the #1 Modern Rock hits “Selling the drama” and “Lightning crashes”), their next album, Throwing Copper, went to #1 in 1994. It is their best-selling, and often most highly regarded by fans and critics, album to date. The band was even asked to perform on Saturday Night Live where they performed their hits “I Alone” and “Selling the Drama” and to this day, they are the only band to receive a standing ovation at the party after the broadcast.[citation needed]
The momentum continued long enough to help 1997’s Secret Samadhi (coproduced by the band and Jay Healey) debut at #1. Deriving its name from a state of Hindu meditation, the album spawned four Modern Rock hit singles, but failed to match its predecessor’s success, with sales topping off at 2 million. The band performed “lakini’s juice” and “Heropsychodreamer” from this album on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Harrison came back on board as coproducer for 1999’s The Distance to Here, which debuted at #4 and featured the minor US hit single “The Dolphin’s Cry.”
In September 2001, the more experimental V (originally scheduled to be titled “Ecstatic Fanatic”) was issued to mixed reviews, preceded by “Simple creed” as the first single. However, with the events of 9/11—which occurred a week before V ‘s release—the melancholic “Overcome” began receiving significant airplay, superseding “Simple Creed” and becoming V’s selling point. Unfortunately, Live’s commercial stock—compounded by their petering radio airplay—had fallen further since The Distance to Here, with V merely reaching #22 at home, failing to reach gold status.
Birds of Pray appeared in May 2003, bolstered by the unexpected success of “Heaven”, Live’s first US Hot 100-placing since “The Dolphin’s Cry.” Reaching #28, Birds of Pray ultimately outsold V, although it too received mixed reviews and failed to reach gold status.
In November 2004, Live released Awake: The Best of Live, a career-spanning compilation that included “We deal in dreams”, a previously unreleased song from the Throwing Copper sessions, and a cover of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line”, as well as Birds of Pray’s “Run Away”, re-imagined with Shelby Lynne on co-lead vocals.
In 2005, Live signed with Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s Epic label, and released a new album entitled Songs From Black Mountain in June 2006, preceded by “The river” as lead single. Thus far, while the album has achieved international success, it has proven Live’s lowest-seller yet domestically, only reaching #52 in the US before quickly disappearing from the charts.
While Live remain only moderately popular in terms of record sales in the United States, much of their current sales come from places in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Ed Kowalczyk has said that “Holland is the center of the Live universe” [citation needed].
The group made news in January 2006 as three band members (Chad Taylor, Patrick Dahlheimer and touring rhythm guitar Adam Kowalczyk) and two members of the band’s road crew were on a United Airlines flight when smoke filled the cabin, requiring the pilot to make an emergency landing.
On season 5 of American Idol, finalist Chris Daughtry was accused of performing Live’s rendition of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” and calling it his own. This angered some Live fans, but one week later Daughtry acknowledged it was not his own rendition, even saying Live was one of his favorite bands. In May 2006, Live appeared on The Howard Stern Show and addressed this issue.
On May 24, 2006, the band and Chris Daughtry performed “Mystery” on the season finale of American Idol, and on June 7, a new version of “Mystery” was released on the Friends of Live website featuring Chris Daughtry on guest vocals.
The members of Live announced in June 2009 that the band would be taking a two-year hiatus as they work on other projects. On November 30, 2009, guitarist Chad Taylor confirmed that the hiatus of the band was most likely a permanent rift. See the Wikipedia page for more. During the first European tour of the new band of Taylor, Gracey and Dahlheimer (The Gracious Few), Taylor commented both on stage and in post-show discussions that he believes Live may still come back together, though he also stated that the chances of Kowalczyk joining them in this effort may be very small. In an exclusive blogpost[1] on website The Comet, Taylor confirmed that the remaining members of the band would be working on new material for Live in Nashville early July 2011.
The band returned from their nearly three-year hiatus on March 12, 2012, with Chris Shinn, formerly of Unified Theory, as their new lead singer. The new line-up performed before an invited audience at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York. The band performed as a six-piece with The Gracious Few's Sean Hennesy on guitar and Alexander Lefever on keyboards
[1]: http://thecomet.com/posts/exclusive_blog_chad_taylor_talks_the_gracious_few_and_live
There's another band with the same name:
2. Live was a 70s-era Progressive Rock group from Germany. Formed in 1971, the outfit appeared to be a strangely named band indeed.
In October 1972 their guitarist Martin Knaden went to Curly Curve. Throughout their history only one member has remained, the multi-talented keyboards and flute player Norbert Aufmhof. Although in existence for a decade Live never got to record a proper studio album, or gain a contract, which surely they should have. Maybe the band name was a bit of a jinx?!
Their earlier history was originally just documented by a single. Only more recently did an LP surface collecting 1974 recordings. Quite obviously a collection of rehearsal session tapes, the LP reveals a band with promise albeit rather grottily recorded with often barely understandable muffled lyrics in English. Musically, there are nods to early Satin Whale and Jane, but with lots of classical touches, notably Grieg and Bach, and a penchant to meander rather nicely during the instrumentals.
Based on the ROCK OFFERS track "Sea Fever", they had blossomed and changed focus somewhat, as a much more sophisticated symphonic progressive of the Pancake and Jane type, typical of the mid/late-1970's.
In all, during their history, three different versions of Live existed, but eventually the band split in 1976. A full history of the band is included in the GEVELSBERG CD, which documents other oddments, sessions, and a live recording!
The Sirens Call
Live Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I calculate the grim? and eerie song
Sirens calling
I count the ways you turn me on
Crack of your whip
Taking the hit
I'm caught in your grip
I count the days since we went wrong
I contemplate where we went wrong
Sirens calling
The anchor of innocent it speaks by reflection
Crack of the whip
Taking the hit
I'm caught in your grip
And now your thoughts consume me
I can hear the sirens calling
Take my hand, I can't my darlin'
The reflection of your eyes
Disappears and it is mine
I'm tied to the mast as I pass in the black
I think this is pretty close
"The Sirens Call" is a haunting and eerie song that portrays a person's attraction to another despite the harmful consequences. The lyrics suggest that the subject is conflicted over these feelings as they count the many ways this person turns them on yet contemplate where things went wrong. The sirens' call alludes to the Greek mythology where sailors were lured to their deaths by singing sirens. In this song, the sirens appear to be a metaphor for the person the subject is attracted to, calling them to come closer despite the danger.
The imagery of the crack of the whip and taking the hit, implies that this attraction is harmful and possibly painful, but they cannot let go. The subject feels caught in the grip of this person's thoughts, leading them to be consumed by their own feelings. The anchor of innocent speaks by reflection alludes to a time when the person the subject is attracted to may have seemed innocent, but now that reflection is no longer there.
The chorus repeats itself, suggesting that the subject is unable to resist this attraction despite knowing the harm it may cause. The final lines, "I'm tied to the mast as I pass in the black," allude to the story of Odysseus who was tied to a mast while passing the sirens, unable to resist their lure. The subject appears to be in a similar situation, unable to resist the attraction despite the danger it represents.
Line by Line Meaning
I count the ways you turn me on
I am aware of how much you attract me
I calculate the grim? and eerie song
I try to understand the dark and unsettling feelings associated with you
Sirens calling
There is a strong force tempting me towards something dangerous
I count the days since we went wrong
I have been keeping track of the time that has passed since something went awry in our relationship
I contemplate where we went wrong
I am analyzing and reflecting upon our past mistakes
The anchor of innocent it speaks by reflection
The purity of our early relationship is still present, but only evident in memories
Crack of the whip
I have been subjected to pain and discipline by you
Taking the hit
I am the recipient of physical or emotional harm from you
I'm caught in your grip
I am trapped by your power and influence over me
And now your thoughts consume me
Your ideas and perspective are dominating my thinking
I can hear the sirens calling
I am being drawn to a dangerous situation that is difficult to resist
Take my hand, I can't my darlin'
I want you to accompany me into this perilous situation
The reflection of your eyes
The way I see myself is affected by your perception of me
Disappears and it is mine
I lose a sense of self when I am with you
I'm tied to the mast as I pass in the black
I am navigating dangerous waters, but determined to resist temptation
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Flaxot
Sirens Call is a top 5 song for this band and deserves more credit. I love this song :-)
@manuelmagro9173
There will come a time that Chris Shinn will be well recognised for this miraculous passionate effort.
@LeoMancilla
Marvelous and forgotten song of 2010's rock music.
@robertchambers6344
Best album since distance to here... It is.
@topsykretts7642
Ed can just be salty, this is some of their best work.
@hattswank5313
This song could be Chad Gracey’s best drumming ever. Total shame they don’t make it available —- the music throughout is some of their best.
@matto.8222
Great song
@michaelplumley6700
Holy Fucking Shit
@etenden9914
❤❤
@swordfish25
I really liked what Chris did in the band, it's a shame the band is discarding the very existence of the album and anything with this line up. it's such a huge mistake. This was the first time I ran out to buy a Live album.